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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28377246">A Better Place, A Better Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/reshii/pseuds/reshii'>reshii</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sally Face (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Amnesia, Fix-It of Sorts, Friends to Lovers, Lisa and Henry Never Married, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Reality Drifting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:22:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28377246</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/reshii/pseuds/reshii</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the defeat of the Devourers of God, Sal, Todd, and Ash never stopped looking for Larry. Over a year after the fact, Sal finds him in a parallel Pittsburgh; only he doesn't remember anything before the time he's spent there, not even his best friend. Desperate to get him home, Sal will not only have to navigate trying to remind Larry of his past, but juggle his home reality and the one that Larry has found himself in. Good thing he's got plenty of help.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sal Fisher/Larry Johnson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Time and Space themselves warp around him like molten glass. They push and pull at his very being as he tries to grit the teeth he isn’t even sure are currently there through the extreme vertigo and distant almost-pain that always seems to come with. A couple sharp breaths and he is spat back in what he hopes is a safe and secret place. As his vision clears, he tries to take inventory.</p>
<p>He takes a deep breath and looks around him, still a little dizzy. It’s cold and misting rain, the stone wall in the alley he’s found himself in slick as he momentarily holds himself up against it, waiting for his head to clear further. He notices that where his Hunch has led him looks a lot like home. Not home as in Nockfell- the sound of a bustling city surrounding him tells him that much, but home as in his own reality. There are no crazy cartoonish colors, no bizarre polygonal shapes in his form or the things around him.</p>
<p>He can feel his breath collecting in his mask, pushing wetly back into his face with nowhere else to go, and he knows he’s back in some semblance of his own fleshy, flawed, and fundamentally human body. He relishes. </p>
<p>	It’s been about year and a half since the end of the world. Well, at least the world as Sal Fisher originally knew it. A year and a half of trying to adjust to a completely new existence, a year and a half trying to master this increasingly complicated reality hopping stuff, a year and a half of trying to find even a miniscule clue as to what the hell happened to his best friend.</p>
<p>And, honestly? Not much else.</p>
<p>	He couldn’t say he didn’t feel bad for not really checking in with Ash and Todd much, but he knew they understood. He was never good at sitting back and just watching the world around him, especially with questions left unanswered. As soon as Todd had brought up his findings suggesting that Larry could have possibly ended up somewhere parallel to their reality, Sal dove immediately and wholly into the hunt. He made sure to pop back in now and then to let them know he was safe and to catch up. His two friends were just as hard at work with their own searching and adjusting, Todd with his battle against the remainder of darkness within him and Ashley with, well… holding down the fort pretty much single-handedly.</p>
<p>	All of that and well, being solely confined to her other hand while in their reality doesn’t really sit well with Sal, either. It’s great having friends close, especially when they’re all you have, but Ash deserved her privacy and full autonomy and so did he. If he’s busy in other realities, her arm can just belong to her, and he can inhabit the body he’s given in those places. He quashes another pang of guilt before taking a deep breath and starting his trek deeper into the city.</p>
<p>	A blue eye scans around for any sort of tell to where he’s ended up this time. The buildings around him don’t give up too much, but a solid look at his reflection in one of their windows confirms that he is very much his most familiar self. His mask is staring back at him, surrounded by a shock of shaggy blue hair that falls down past his shoulders and onto the black hoodie that he can finally see he’s been unconsciously pulling closer to himself.</p>
<p>	As he keeps walking, avoiding shoulders and gazes, he finally sees a newspaper stand just inside the doors of a bodega. He stops in and pulls one out, nodding in a polite greeting at the man behind the counter who thankfully seems to be just about as interested in him as he is in being there. Sal quickly shrugs it off, looking for a date or place on the front page of the paper.</p>
<p>	Pittsburgh, Oct. 2019. He’s not sure why he finds himself feeling relief at seeing that he’s wound up in some alternate version of Pennsylvania, maybe it’s that he knows how close Nockfell would be, but the year throws him off and makes his breath shudder in a loud sigh.</p>
<p>	He clears his throat to dislodge the lump that's formed there and places the paper back where he got it from, walking back through the doors and continuing down the block. His fingers find their way back to his hoodie, clutching the fabric yet again as he fights off a wave of anxiety. He isn’t even really sure where to start. What he does know is that something drew him here and he was going to find it. He had to.</p>
<p>	As he walks, he can’t help but lose himself in thought. The inexplicable smell of cold air sends memories racing through his head, both good and... not so good. His feet dutifully carry him through the streets as his train of thought drifts back to the reason he’s even here. Picturing deep skin and deeper hair, he allows himself to lean into the imagined sensation of pure warmth. Warmth in eyes and smile and voice. A voice that’s suddenly all too real, a laugh that's been plaguing his dreams for over 500 fucking days now. At first he worries that he’s hallucinating, but when his gaze shoots up from it’s locked position at his shoes, it lands on the sun. He still freezes.</p>
<p>	“Larry?” Gravel comes from his chest, and his throat feels like sand. He blinks rapidly, trying to clear his vision of anything that could be causing this mirage. It doesn’t leave. He stares at the man who couldn’t be more than 12 feet away from him. Larry is standing under a canopy, leaning against the wall of what looks to be a local coffee shop. He’s talking to someone, animated and enthusiastic and alive, tapping an absentminded rhythm into the guitar case that’s sharing the wall with him. It’s obvious that he didn’t hear Sal, so the shorter man takes a deep breath and a couple steps, and tries again. “L-Larry?” His voice rings simultaneously too quiet and too loud in his own ears, too sharp and too dull. His heartbeat rushes loudly in his head, and finally their eyes meet.</p>
<p>Sal feels his breath leave him completely, a frigid breeze making the tears in his left eye prickle painfully. Larry frowns back at him, confused. </p>
<p>“Uh, yeah? Can I help you with something?” The brunet’s black coated fingernails reach up to scratch the back of his head and when they drop back down, Sal can feel his heart drop with them.</p>
<p>“Larry, it’s me.” He winces at the desperation in his own voice. Was this some sort of joke? “I-I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Larry tilts his head and the man he was talking to looks awkwardly between the two.</p>
<p>“Sorry, man, have we met? Were you at Mike’s party or something?” He smiles and Sal instantly recognizes it as the one he forces when he’s uncomfortable, just trying to be polite. “I can’t tell if this is some inside joke I’m missing.” Sal’s throat tightens further.</p>
<p>“Larry, please.” He gives an incredulous laugh, but it ends up sounding more like a sob. “How can you not remember me?” Larry’s fake smile is replaced with a nervous frown. Sal knows he’s fucking this up. He shouldn’t be acting like this, but his mouth is acting faster than his brain. “After everything, I-I was so scared I’d never see you again. Please.” He does sob this time and the guy next to Larry looks like he might step in and say something, but remains quiet and still.</p>
<p>“Whoa, are you ok? Listen, I’m sorry I don’t remember. I probably had too much to drink.” He gives a small chuckle but it doesn’t quite come out right and it seems more self-placating than anything. Brown eyes search blue as he worries at his bottom lip and takes a couple steps closer. “You high or something?” He says it hushed, not accusing but discrete, concerned, and the shorter man sobs again. “Do you need help getting home, dude?” A large hand comes to rest comfortingly on his shoulder and Sal instinctively takes a deep, calming breath.</p>
<p>“I’m okay, I’m sorry. I-I don’t live around here, so...” <i>If Larry really doesn’t remember, freaking out and freaking him out in the process isn’t going to help anything,</i> He tells himself. <i>I should regroup with Ash and Todd, let them know I’ve at least found him, and nail down a plan. Jim might know what to do.</i> Sal shakes his head and takes a deep breath. When it comes back out, it’s shakier than he wants it to be. "I'm sorry if I freaked you out, it’s uh… It’s been a weird day.” He tries to give a lighthearted chuckle, but his voice breaks. “I should go. Sorry, again.”</p>
<p>Larry doesn’t seem satisfied with that. His frown deepens and his grip tightens just a little on Sal’s shoulder, stopping him before he can turn and leave. “Let me get you a coffee?” He points a thumb at the shop they’re standing outside of and tries a smile again, this one coming off more genuine if not riddled in pity. Sal looks away, not being able to take Larry looking at him like that. “You can catch me up on how I know you and I don’t have to worry about you losin’ it in the streets.” He clues Sal into the joke with a small, well meaning laugh. Sal’s about to argue and insist he should leave, but having Larry in front of him, touching him, has him hesitating.</p>
<p>He ends up falling quiet after trying and failing to come up with an actual response. He goes with a nod instead, and Larry smiles and returns it. The brunet turns to the man he was talking with and apologizes, slinging his instrument onto his shoulder and promising to text him later. Sal kicks himself the entire time. As the two exchange goodbyes and the man walks away, Larry’s hand comes to the small of Sal’s back, gently leading him to the front doors of the shop. He quickly pulls it back, like he's touched something scalding.</p>
<p>	“Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” He grimaces, face flushed a deep red. Sal blinks up at him, not particularly having noticed the somewhat intimate gesture until Larry had such a visceral reaction to it himself. </p>
<p>	“Oh, no. That’s alright.” He reassures him with a shrug. “I don’t mind.”</p>
<p>	“Ok, cool. Sorry.” Larry coughs awkwardly and uses the hand to instead hold the door open for the other man. “After you, dude.” Sal bows his head gratefully before stepping inside, internally screaming at himself for not taking his out before he fucks this up any harder.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Larry finds them a quiet spot toward the back of the cafe, away from loudly chatting friends and the bustle of the counter, and lowers his guitar to a safe spot against the wall next to the table. He flashes Sal what he hopes is a reassuring smile and gestures for him to sit, doing so himself. He doesn’t really know why he’s doing this. Part of him was kind of freaked out by how the blue haired man reacted to the things he said. He's unnerved that he has no recollection of this person who claims to be so close to him. After all, for all he knows the guy could be lying; he could be a con artist or psychopath. Larry kind of doubts that though, and feels an inexplicable draw towards him, like maybe he is actually familiar.</p>
<p>	“So, what’s your name?” The brunet breaks the silence after they both get situated. It seems to startle the shorter man, like the noise of Larry’s voice broke him out of a trance. “I’m Larry, but you obviously already knew that.” He says lightheartedly.</p>
<p>	“Sal,” He responds, fidgeting with his hoodie sleeve. “But my friends call me Sally Face.” </p>
<p>	“Sally Face, huh? Cool.” Larry ignores an odd pang in his chest at the name and flashes a gap-tooth grin. “Well, Sally Face, it’s nice to meet you...again. Sorry it didn’t stick so well the first time.” He sticks a hand out for Sal and the ensuing handshake is undoubtedly awkward but he finds it oddly endearing. “What was the first time, anyway?”</p>
<p>	Sal is momentarily saved by the barista coming around to take their orders. He orders a hot chocolate with a straw for himself, giving a grateful nod as he tries to think fast while Larry gives his own order. It kills him, but he thinks that for now it’d be best to not tell the truth, just until he knows he won’t scare him away.</p>
<p>“You were right about the party thing.” He fumbles after the barista leaves. He looks to the guitar case just to break eye contact and notices a pin with a familiar “SF” logo on it, giving a private smile at the small affordance of familiarity. “I... noticed your Sanity’s Fall t-shirt and we bonded over them.” He gives a small nod towards said pin for emphasis and mentally crosses his fingers.</p>
<p>	“That makes sense then, that kind of happens sometimes.” Larry smiles sheepishly and Sal wants to heave a sigh of relief that his shot landed. “Still, I’m sorry. You cool to start from square one? I’m always down to have a buddy with a killer taste in music.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’d really like that.” The bluenet says. He thinks he might even mean it; anything to have him back. “Um, also sorry again if I freaked you out with getting kind of emotional out there. I promise I’m not usually like that.” He grimaces and though his mouth is obviously hidden, Larry can somehow tell by the scrunching around his eyes and laughs.</p>
<p>“No, no, it’s ok.” He says, putting his hands up and shaking his head. “You said earlier you were kind of having a bad time. I get it, man, we all have those days.” He shrugs and smiles lopsidedly; Sal wants to reach across the table and pull him into a bear hug. Larry always was overly understanding of him.</p>
<p>“I really appreciate you saying that, man.” It’s said with a sigh of genuine catharsis. He’s basking and he can’t help it.</p>
<p>The barista brings their drinks out soon after that and they bond over various 90’s metal bands once more. Sal learns a lot about Larry’s life here. He learns that he came to Pittsburgh almost 2 years ago now, something Sal desperately wants to ask more about but doesn’t. He learns that Larry is an artist and budding musician who makes most of his money by selling his paintings to coffee shops like this one and playing small sets at various parties of friends and friends of friends and so on. </p>
<p>He feels bad for not giving much in return. He doesn’t want to say too much or lie more than he has to, and he’s ok with seeming kind of boring to achieve both of those things. He tells him that he’s originally from New Jersey and moved to Pennsylvania after his mom died (not a lie) and that he and his friends investigate the paranormal as a profession (only kind of a lie). He tells him that he also plays guitar and that he’d love to play with him sometime, which Larry enthusiastically takes him up on.</p>
<p>As they talk, Sal can’t help but take in differences from the last time he saw Larry this alive. He looks a little older, his hair is longer, he's wearing his scruff differently, he’s got shiny barbells and rings where there used to just be smooth skin, in his nose, lip, ears, and eyebrow. The ink of new tattoos pokes out from the edges of his shirt collar and the sleeves of his zip-up jacket.</p>
<p>By the time their drinks are gone, the banter feels completely natural and Sal can’t help but drop his guard just a little. It’s starting to get dark out and when Larry checks the time on his watch, his eyes widen and he admits to Sal that he has to play at a friends party in a couple hours and needs to leave and get ready. Sal pinches himself, hard, but asks to walk him home. Larry grins wide and nods, slinging his guitar case over his shoulder once more before gently leading Sal out of the cafe and into the cold mist. </p>
<p>It’s only a couple blocks walk and they talk the whole way there, their arms casually bump from the proximity of their steps. As Sal fights the urge to take Larry’s hand in his, he finds himself talking about Ash and Todd. He feels so at home doing so, he can almost forget about the current situation. He starts to fall into the temptation to do so before Larry chimes in.</p>
<p>“Your friends sound great, I’d love to meet them someday.” He says, a little wistful, and it draws Sal back kicking and screaming to reality. He needs to watch what he says, he needs to focus. He’s fucking this up enough as it is. He should have rescheduled, gotten Larry’s contact information, and immediately gone to Ash and Todd but he didn’t. He knows that until he figures out what to do about this, he’s just playing a selfish game of pretend; but he can’t say no to this. He needs this, even if just for a little longer.</p>
<p>“I’m sure you will.” He responds a little late and a little weak. The slight shift in mood gets a strange look from Larry but he says nothing. “You guys would get along great.” He tries, a little stronger this time, and the taller man smiles again. Larry stops walking and Sal looks up at him.</p>
<p>“This is me.” He nods towards an old, dark brick building with several balconies going up the length of it. “Home sweet home.” Larry laughs awkwardly and goes to rub at his bicep. “Uhm, this might be kind of forward but do you have a cell or anything? I’d really like to see you again.” Sal thinks and chooses his words carefully before answering.</p>
<p> “My phone is broken and I’m working on getting a new one. Can I get your email for now and let you know when I have it?” He has no idea how a cell phone would interact with Shifting, if it would fuck it up or even work outside of his home reality. He’ll need to see if Todd can figure that one out. Not to mention it might be a little hard figuring out how to use a cell phone in his reality since he’s confined to Ash’s arm. Larry puffs his bottom lip out and whines.</p>
<p>“Is this you trying to politely blow me off?” He asks, and Sal can tell he’s only half joking, giving himself the opportunity to play it off if Sal actually is rejecting him. </p>
<p>“No, I’m serious. I’d really like to hang out again, too. Do you have a pen or something?” <i>A pen? You idiot, what are you going to write it down on? The hand that you won’t have when you get home?</i> “Wait, just tell me, I’ll remember.”</p>
<p>“Wow. You’re really pulling out every trick in the book, huh?” Larry half-jokes again. The blunet rolls his eye and playfully shoves at Larry’s arm, relieved when he just laughs in response to the roughhousing. “Okay, okay, it’s “lars from mars”, all one word, at hotmail.” Sal laughs a little but nods and the brunet shoves him back, though much lighter than Sally did to him a couple moments ago. “That’s a killer email and you know it.” He childishly sticks his tongue out at him and Sal notices the barbell running through it for the first time, glinting in the light of the street lamp right over their heads.</p>
<p>“Lars from mars, I got it.” He taps the side of his head with a finger and shoves his hands in his hoodie pocket. “Thanks for the hot chocolate and redo.” He says softly, an invisible smile reaching his voice nonetheless. “And good luck at your gig, though I’m sure you don’t need it.” </p>
<p>“Anytime, Sally Face.” Larry gives a salute and lingers just a little too long before walking backwards away from him. “I await your email.” He says it with a chuckle and gives a wave, which Sal returns, before ducking into his building. Sal sighs. Time to do the whole regrouping thing he should have done hours ago. He swallows nervously and walks down the quiet street to find a secluded place to hop on home, repeating the email address over and over in his head, just in case.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a comment and lmk what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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